Certificate students have an exciting new option for an elective starting this fall. HIST 1640: American Childhoods Since 1860 will count as a Category 1 elective. This year's course will be taught Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:00-5:15 p.m. by the fabulous Laura Lovett, a Visiting Associate Professor on leave from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Dr. Lovett is a historian of the United States in the Twentieth Century specializing in the history of women, gender, and sexuality, the history of children and youth, and the history of eugenics. It promises to be a fascinating course!
The course description for this fall is as follows:
In this course, we will consider the diverse experiences of children and youth in the United States from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. We will examine how race, class, gender, sexuality, and citizenship informed children’s agency and experience, and were in turn influenced by the imposition of ideals of childhood through government policies, medical standards, and educational norms. Special consideration will be given to youth movements, and the role of children and youth in the civil rights movement and other forms of political and social activism. With a few exceptions, the course will offer a consideration of a topic in each decade since the 1860s.